POLAND: A tight struggle between two contrasting visions
Deep polarisation is entrenched in Poland. The incumbent president prevailed in the presidential election, but only narrowly, as the country appeared poised between two very different visions of its future. Increasingly, it seems there are two Polands: a Poland of reactionary politics, and a Poland of resistance; a Poland of tradition, nationalism and religious values, narrowly defined, and a Poland where people are rising up to demand rights and forge a country where people are free to be who they are, difference is respected and dissent is accepted.
We just entered a phase in which there will be no elections for the next three years so we can expect a huge consolidation of power and the government doing everything that it dreams of, such as creating pressure on CSOs, further polarising the media, targeting specific minority groups and escalating the conflict with the EU. I think the crisis of democracy and human rights in Poland will deepen.
Małgorzata Szuleka
